News Releases - WCS Newsroom > Global Conservation > Latin America and Caribbean > Andes, Amazon and Orinoco > Andes-Orinoco

CALI, Colombia | May 21, 2020

A giant South American river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) equipped with a tiny acoustic transmitter lumbers back to its watery home in the Meta River in eastern Colombia.

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BOGOTA, Colombia | June 25, 2019

Study Says Conservation Efforts for the Giant South American River Turtle Have Protected 147,000 Females

By analyzing records in countries of the Amazon and Orinoco basins—which include Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador—a paper published today in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation, categorized 85 past and present initiatives or projects that work to preserve the South American River Turtle, or charapa (Podocnemis expansa), a critically endangered species. These projects are protecting more than 147,000 female turtles across the basin, an unprecedented figure.

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NEW YORK, N.Y. | April 26, 2019

WCS Reacts to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Plan for the Jaguar

Experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reacted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recently released recovery plan for the jaguar.

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NEW YORK, New York | November 13, 2018

Alejandro Santo Domingo Is New Board Chair of the Wildlife Conservation Society

Alejandro Santo Domingo, a Colombian-American financier and philanthropist, is the new Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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New York, NY | March 05, 2018

Good News for Jaguars

Jaguar populations have grown at an average annual rate of nearly 8 percent across field sites where the Wildlife Conservation Society works in Latin America from 2002 to 2016.

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January 05, 2018

Colombia Creates New Marine and Coastal Area Benefitting Wildlife and Coastal Communities

January 5, 2018 – The Government of Colombia has recently established a new marine and coastal area for conservation and sustainable use in partnership with local communities in Tumaco, Colombia, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).

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September 15, 2017

Colombia Declares More Than 4 Million New Protected Hectares & Achieves Conservation of 13.31 Percent of Coastal Marine Area

BUENAVENTURA, Colombia (Sept. 15, 2017) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Environment and Sustainable Development Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, and Director of Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (Colombian National Parks) Julia Miranda announced yesterday the expansion of the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Malpelo (Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary) and the declaration of the Distrito Nacional de Manejo Integrado Yuruparí-Malpelo (Yuruparí-Malpelo National Integrated Management District) in the Pacific region of Colombia.

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July 06, 2017

DNA Assessment of Southern Humpback Whales Finds That Loyalty to Calving Grounds Drives Population Differences

July 6, 2017 – Scientists conducting the first circum-global assessment of mitochondrial DNA variation in the Southern Hemisphere’s humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have found that whales faithfully returning to calving grounds year after year play a major role in how populations form, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), the American Museum of Natural History, and a number of other contributing organizations.

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September 20, 2016

WCS Honors President of Colombia For Wildlife Conservation

New York, NY (September 20^th, 2016) – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today honored President Juan Manuel Santos for his role in expanding the national park system in Colombia.

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February 12, 2016

Conservationists Release Critically Endangered Crocodiles In Colombia

February 12, 2016—The Critically Endangered Orinoco crocodile recently received a helping hand from conservationists working in Colombia, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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